Volcanic Kitchens

Friday, April 20, 2012

Volcanic Kitchens

published by Lasting Images

Rotorua photographer Gerhard Egger enjoys capturing the visual nuances of his home region as only someone who’s lived there appreciates: the autumn reflections in the lake of St Faiths Church at Ohinemutu; the white peak of Mt Ngauruhoe spiking from orange tussock; a farmer feeding an orphaned lamb; the school calf day; weekend sports. But his large collection of photographs of the Central North Island has remained largely out of view to people locally – he sells most of his images overseas. Then the idea came to combine photography with his other great passion and past profession, food. Gerhard decided that keeping it ‘local’ provided an opportunity to celebrate and showcase not only his images, but the talents and personalities of the region. He enlisted the help of his partner Henri (Henrietta), set about collecting, cooking and photographing many of the recipes, and Volcanic Kitchens is the result. And what a wonderful result it is.

A coffee-table book with 158 recipes and over 170 photographic images of the Volcanic Plateau, including landscape, food, culture and people.

Volcanic Kitchens is a book that represents a broad New Zealand community and the mix of different cultures in a positive way, with food being the common theme. Its appeal is not confined to the people who live on the Volcanic Plateau – visitors and New Zealanders wherever they live will also enjoy the diversity of recipes and stunning scenic and cultural images, interspersed with appetising images of the food

The book includes recipes from well known local personalities such as ex-All Black Buck Shelford, singer Tim Beveridge, author Tessa Duder, chef Charles Royal, and BMX world champion Sarah Walker. There are also recipes contributed by less celebrated people – Joy Barrowman, who has made the Christmas cake for Friends of Hospice for the past 14 years, (pic right - recipe below);Iri Te Kowhai, who regularly caters for hundreds of people on the local marae, and many others including some of Gerhard and Henri’s favourites.

Volcanic Kitchens is available from selected bookshops in Rotorua and Taupo, in Auckland: from Milly’s Speciality Kitchen Shop in Ponsonby and Cook the Books in Grey Lynn. Check for an updated list of stockists on our website. It can also be purchased through the website www.volcanickitchens.co.nz.

Recommended retail price is $45.00.

Joy’s Honey Fruit Cake

Joy Barrowman

Joy has been making this Christmas Cake, to be raffled by Friends of Hospice Rotorua, for the last 14 years.

She acquired the recipe over 40 years ago when she was invited to lead a cake decorating course in

New Plymouth. The recipe comes from a farmer’s wife who was on the course. It keeps for ages (if you can keep those fingers out of the tin!).

1250g mixed fruit

sherry

1 cup honey

250g butter

2 tbsp golden syrup

500g flour

1 cup boiling milk

1 tsp baking soda

Soak the fruit in a glass of sherry the night before. Dissolve next three ingredients together and add to the fruit. Add the flour and then the baking soda dissolved in milk. Put into a 23cm lined tin. Use the spatula and water to smooth the top and to get it nice and shiny. Preheat the oven to 200˚C, and turn back to 130˚C when

the cake is in the oven. Bake for 3 hours. Allow to cool in oven overnight.

If you choose not to soak the fruit in sherry, an alternative is to add

2 teaspoons of essence to the mix, this can be vanilla, rum or

almond essence.

A feature of the book is the wonderful photography, both of places and food, by Gerhard Egger - a couple of examples appear below.